Crop Pests and Predators Exhibit Inconsistent Responses to Surrounding Landscape Composition

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win–win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies

Crop pests and predators exhibit inconsistent responses to surrounding landscape composition

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win–win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and associated factors in Bangladeshi adolescents during COVID-19.

Publication status: PublishedBACKGROUND AND AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying countermeasures significantly disrupt the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of adolescents. We aimed to estimate the status and associated factors related to HRQoL of adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic from the community population of Bangladesh. METHODS: This cross-sectional study followed two-stage sampling. From eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh, 2030 adolescents were enrolled. The KIDSCREEN-10 index was used to measure the HRQoL of adolescents. In addition to this, adolescents' data on sociodemographics, mental well-being, parenting style, insomnia, food insecurity, depression, anxiety and stress, resilient coping, screen-based activity, and anthropometry were taken for finding out the factors associated with HRQoL of adolescents. The hierarchical multilinear regression was performed to assess the association. RESULTS: More than 47% of adolescents were found to have moderate and high HRQoL, while 4.7% of adolescents experienced low HRQoL during data collection. Higher age (B: -0.671), having more siblings (B: -0.316), food insecurity (B: ‒2.010), depression (B: ‒0.321), anxiety (B: ‒0.362), and stress (B: ‒0.150) were found to have significantly negative associations with adolescents' HRQoL during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas, positive parenting (B: 0.409), inconsistent parenting discipline (B: 0.266), good mental health (B: 5.662), resilient coping (B: 0.306) were found to have significant positive relationships. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study indicate that over 52% of the adolescents reported a moderate and lower level of HRQoL. In light of these results, it may be beneficial to prioritize interventions targeting psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, and stress

A zadirachta indica-assisted green synthesis of magnesium oxide nanoparticles for degradation of Reactive Red 195 dye: a sustainable environmental remedial approach

Abstract A variety of industries employ synthetic azo dyes. However, the biosphere is being damaged by the unused/leftover azo dyes, which pose a danger to all living things. Therefore, treating them to shield the environment from the potential harm of azo dyes is crucial. Bio-sorption is a cheap and effective mode for eliminating toxic dyes in the environment. The current work focused on synthesizing magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles using an aqueous leaf extract of neem (Azadirachta indica). The XRD and SEM analyses of MgO nanoparticles indicated the crystalline nature of MgO nanoparticles with a cubic structure, and the size was around 90–100 nm. FTIR analysis showed the presence of a stretching frequency peak at 550 cm−1, confirming the Mg–O bond. The surface analysis revealed the cluster form of the synthesized nanoparticles. The UV–visible absorption peak for MgO nanoparticles was found at 294 nm and band gap of 4.52 eV. In order to eliminate the Reactive Red 195 dye, MgO nanoparticles were used. At pH 4, 40 °C, 0.02% dye concentration, and 0.003 g/L catalyst amount, the highest degree of decolorization (91%) was seen. Decreased total organic carbon (TOC) and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) percent were 84.33% and 81.3%, respectively. The proposed mechanism of target dye degradation was also investigated. MgO NPs were found to be effective in their catalytic behavior toward the degradation of Reactive Red 195 dye up to five cycles with almost no change in their catalytic activity

Nonwoven/Nanomembrane Composite Functional Sweat Pads

Sweat is a natural body excretion produced by skin glands, and the body cools itself by releasing salty sweat. Wetness in the underarms and feet for long durations causes itchiness and an unpleasant smell. Skin-friendly reusable sweat pads could be used to absorb sweat. Transportation of moisture and functionality is the current challenge that many researchers are working on. This study aims to develop a functional and breathable sweat pad with antimicrobial and quick drying performance. Three layered functional sweat pads (FSP) are prepared in which the inner layer is made of an optimized needle-punched coolmax/polypropylene nonwoven blend. This layer is then dipped in antimicrobial ZnO solution (2, 4, and 6 wt.%), and super absorbent polymer (SAP) is embedded, and this is called a functional nonwoven (FNW1) sheet. Electrospun nanofiber-based nanomembranes of polyamide-6 are optimized for bead-free fibers. They are used as a middle layer to enhance the pad’s functionality, and the third layer is again made of needle-punched optimized coolmax/polypropylene nonwoven sheets. A simple nonwoven-based sweat pad (SSP) is also prepared for comparison purposes. Nonwoven sheets are optimized based on better comfort properties, including air/water vapor permeability and moisture management (MMT). Nonwoven webs having a higher proportion of coolmax show better air permeability and moisture transfer from the inner to the outer layer. Antimicrobial activity of the functional nonwoven layer showed 8 mm of bacterial growth, but SSP and FSP showed only 6 mm of growth against Staphylococcus aureus. FSP showed superior comfort and antibacterial properties. This study could be a footstone toward highly functional sweat pads with remarkable comfort properties